Cricketing world not in a position to turn its back on Pakistan

London: World cricket must not turn its back on Pakistan, which surely deserves one more chance. Many will not want to give them another for they have had plenty in the past, being behind most of the game's leading controversies of the past 30 years.

The terror attack on Sri Lanka 18 months ago, the forfeited Test at the Oval before that, match-fixing, ball tampering, drug taking, all can be laid at their feet.

This latest allegation, that several players, including the captain Salman Butt, conspired to fix small incidences in the game, has not yet been proven but the evidence, such as it is in the News of the World, does seem damning.

If the allegations prove to be true, and police investigations are under way, what a way to treat those trying to provide them with meaningful cricket, such as the England and Wales Cricket Board. Ever since Sri Lanka and ICC match officials were shot at in Lahore last year, teams have refused to play in Pakistan with good reason. The result is that they have been consigned to being a wandering side, reliant on others to host their 'home' matches (as in the Test series here against Australia), as well as their away ones.

Tragedy

Cricket, especially the Test game, is not in such good health that it can dismiss Pakistan, who have produced some of the most talented cricketers in history from nowhere. But those from nowhere have their heads turned and you only have to read the abusive language used by Mazhar Majid, the puppet-master allegedly at the centre of the scam, to Mohammad Amir, a player from a humble background, to know that this is more servant-master relationship than a business deal.

Having seen Amir perform in this series has been to witness one of the greatest young bowling talents. It is a tragedy that nobody seems to have impressed upon him that 10-15 years in the game, especially if he breaks into the Indian Premier League (something denied Pakistan players last year in the wake of the Mumbai attacks), will make him a rich man, at least by the standards of most of his countrymen. As a young naif, he probably deserves another chance too, but Pakistan should not be indulged by the cricket community unless they muck out the stables completely this time.

Radio 2: Brian Murgatroyd, former Sky Sports, ESPN, ECB, ICC and ACB, on the ramifications of the Pakistan cricket match fixing allegations

 

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There was a banning of some players after Justice Qayyum's report into the first wave of match-fixing in the late 1990s, one of them Ijaz Ahmad. Not that Ijaz has been implicated this time but he has been allowed back into the fold as fielding coach.

Providing the Pakistan Cricket Board takes the necessary strong action, should any player's guilt be proved, the ECB is set to keep supporting its attempts to play international cricket. In the current issue of Wisden Cricketer, Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, is adamant that a country of 170 million people cannot be disfranchised.

Clarke is right to try, even though he will be feeling let down. Test cricket is becoming increasingly lopsided, the well-funded and well-organised teams such as India, South Africa, Australia and England occupying the top half of the table with the have-nots down the bottom. Sri Lanka are able compete in the top group, but Pakistan have fallen back despite having one of most talented pace attacks.

As Richard Pybus, a former coach put it, "making plans for the future always proved futile because the present was constantly being overthrown".

The ICC will stand by them, inviting them to a global tournament every year, but others may be reticent to support them. In Urdu, Pakistan means ‘land of the pure' — the last bit of which their cricket team need to start living up to if they are not to end up as the basket case that nobody wants to know.

Do you think it's fair to expel Pakistan from cricket? Do you think the International Cricket Council has done enough to root out dishonesty from the game?